The perception of the Bron-less Lakers has quickly flipped on its head. They lost their first two games after the King was announced to be missing at least two weeks of crunch time. Fast forward to the present- they’ve won 3 on the bounce against the Nuggets, Suns, and the Spurs. Up next they have a struggling Bucks side at the Crypto.com Arena. While it’s still a daunting task, seeing Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves in fine form would be a sign of hope. But can the same be said of LeBron James and Rui Hachimura? Unfortunately not.

With the Bucks missing out on a dub in their last two games, it’s the perfect time for JJ Redick’s men to sink Milwaukee’s battleship. While they’ve been good as of recently, JJ would still want to have all the boys fit and ready to get it over the line. So who does he have at his disposal for tonight?

Lakers injury report ahead of Bucks clash

Hachimura last played for the Los Angeles Lakers on March 7th against the Spurs, clocking 17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, and 2 steals over 32 minutes. He’s since missed about 11 games of basketball due to a left patellar tendinopathy. Coach Redick hasn’t provided an exact update on his return. But he’s been seen in 3-on-3 practice sessions, and also before the Nuggets game shooting hoops. While all these are positive signs of recovery, he’s still listed as out for the Bucks game.

Now onto LeBron James. It’s crazy how he’s played nearly 130 games for the Showtime since last season. He makes it really hard to forget that he’s closer to 50 than he is to his NBA debut. He was initially set to be out for a couple of weeks. However, the groin issue is worse than initially evaluated. Shams Charania of ESPN mentioned on March 16th that he’s set to miss at least another week, which rules him out for the Bucks clash too.

Forward Maxi Kleber’s surgery to have his right foot repaired in early Feb ruled him out till the first week of April at least. The only other new addition to the injury sheet was center Trey Jemison III, who was out for the Nuggets win because of an illness. According to ESPN, there’s no update with regard to his situation, so he’s currently out for the Bucks game too. With this being said, let’s see what their starting lineup looks like.

Lakers expected lineup for Bucks clash

Jaxson Hayes has been on fire since Luka came into the team. With the Slovenian magic delivering 26.5 points, 8.8 boards, and 8 assists since his arrival, Hayes has been shifted to the starting center position. Even commentators are highlighting Hayes’ increased performances since El Matador came into town. His season averages have jumped from 7.5 to 11.2 PPG and 4.8 to 7.7 rebounds in the month of March alone. He’s put his foot down on being LA’s core starter moving forward. That being said, this is their expected lineup for the game against Milwaukee tonight:

This Lakers squad has what it takes to win it all. With the Don in the squad, they got their main man locked in after LBJ’s eventual retirement. He and Rui Hachimura are out for the game tonight. Do you think the Lakers can still win against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. in Los Angeles?